Canada, U.S. must guard intellectual property in China: Obama adviser

Canada and the U.S. must keep closer guard over intellectual property in China, a top adviser to President Barack Obama warned Wednesday.

White House intellectual property enforcement co-ordinator Victoria Espinel told an Ottawa conference of government, academic and business officials that innovation is key to future prosperity, but enforcement of rules is critical to foster that growth.

As more and more companies export products and services to China, they must have increased assurance their intellectual property rights will be protected, she said.

“We’re very concerned about the state of intellectual property enforcement in China, including in their patent system, which is one of the biggest patent systems in the world,” Espinel said.

China is notorious for copyright violations, especially in the automotive and electronics sectors.

Espinel outlined a number of areas where the U.S. is working to clamp down on infringements of intellectual property domestically and abroad, including enforcement measures, legislative reforms and developing deeper partnerships with the private sector.

“It is critical that we aggressively combat the theft of our technology and our innovation from counterfeit, from patent infringement or from trad- secret theft, both at home and around the world,” she said.

Partnering with universities and businesses, government must serve as the facilitator, not regulator, Espinel noted. And Canada and the U.S. must recognize that innovation improvement on both sides of the border is not a “zero-sum game” that will benefit one economy over the other.

Promoting innovation to compete internationally is a broad North American challenge, not a narrow domestic one, she said. Positive and negative impacts easily spill the border.

“We in the U.S. will continue to work to protect our manufacturers, our workers, our industries, and we will be much more effective if we keep working together with Canada,” she said.

Closing off the conference, U.S. Ambassador David Jacobson said forging partnerships with academic institutions and leading industries is also critical to continental prosperity and success.

“Our goal was not to place the onus on government, on academia, or on business. Everyone has a role in encouraging creative thought and innovation,” he said. “We need investment, know-how, and a culture that supports the entrepreneurial spirit.”